serg-eant



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

I-I. C. SERGEANT.

RQGK DRILL.

Patented Sept. 22, 1885.

EEEEEEE 5 m\liehngnphur. washinglon. n. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. C. SERGBANT. ROCK DRILL.

No.' 326,681. Patented Sept. 22, 1885.

Nrre STATES HENRY C. SERGEANT,

OF N EWv YORK, N. Y.

ROCK-DRILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,681, dated September 22, 1885.

. Application filed March 2, 185'5.

To @ZZ whon may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY C. SERGE-INT, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rock-Drills and other Engines, of which the following is a specification.

In carrying out my invention I employ a valve for controlling the admission of steam or compressed air to the drill-cylinder, which is like that shown in my application for Letters Patent No. 145,343, led October 13, 1884, and I also employ mechanism for rotating the drill-piston and the drill or bit,whieh in some respects resembles that shown and described in my -said application. 'In thedrill to which I have reference, the cylinder is provided between its ends with an exhaust cavity or passage, which extends circumferentially around the cylinder, and across which the piston travels in its reciprocating movements. It will therefore be obvious that as soon as the piston in its downward or working stroke passes this exhaust cavity or port there is no longer any outlet for the exhaust, and henceit is possible that the compression of the vapor in the lower part of the cylinder might cushion the piston and reduce, to a certain extent, its striking force.

The object of one part of my invention is to prevent this; and to this end the invention consists in the combination, with a valve for controlling the admission of motive Huid to the cylinder, and an exhaust port or cavity intermediate between the ends of the cylinder, as described, of a supplementary exhaustvalve, which, when the pressure of motive fluid has acted upon the upper end of the piston to force it downward, will, by such pressure, be held open and allow the exhaust of any vapor which may be in the lower part of the cylinderthrough the port or passage which leads to the lower end of the cylinder and such supplementary exhaust-valve.

In my aforesaid application the mechanism for rotating the piston consists, essentially, of two rings having ratchet-shaped teeth on their faces, one ring being engaged wit-l1 spiral grooves which are formed on the exterior of the piston-extension, and the other ring being held or clamped in place by force exerted by the buf- (No model.)

fer-spring, which holds the upper head ofthe cylinder in place. The-important advantage of this arrangement of parts is that the ring last mentioned is heldin place or in lixed posi tion solely by friction, and hence if the piston is difcult to turn in its upward stroke by reason of the bit catching in the hole, or from any other cause, both the ratchet toothed rings will turn and prevent any breakage of parts.

Another feature of my present invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts to enable these two rings having ratchet-teetl1 upon their engaging faces to be employed in connection with a spirally-grooved bar arranged concentric with the piston and fitting a nut secured in the piston.

The above-referred to features of my invention will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l rcpresents a longitudinal section of a portion of a drill embodying my invention. Fig. 2represents a plan thereof'. Fig. 3 represents a transverse section on the plane of the dotted line x x, Fig. l. Fig. 4 isa horizontal section upon the plane of the dotted line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a face view of one of the ratchettoothed rings and the head of the spirally grooved bar to which it is locked, and with which it is connected. Fig. 6 represents a face view of the other or accompanying ratchet-toothed ring, which is clamped and held in place by spring-pressure. Fig. 7 is an end View ofthe nut contained in the piston, and Fig. Sis an end view of the the main valve for admitting motive iiuid to the cylinder.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the drill-cylinder, which, except in so far as hereinafter described, may be of ordinary construction.

B designates a piston fitted to reciprocate therein and havingl an attached piston-rod, B. The piston B may be provided with any suitable spring-packing, as shown at b.

C designates the lower head of the cylinder through which the pistou-rod B works. and D designates the upper head thereof. This upper head, D, consists of a cylindric piece of metal fitting within the cylindric bore in the IOO ring D', which is secured by bolts a to the upper end of' the cylinder.y In this example -ot' my invention, both the upper and lower thelowerhead,C, and passthrough holes in the.

ring D', within which the upperhead,D, is ntted.

F designatesaspring, which, as here shown, consists of two steel plates placed one upon another and deflected or offset between their ends, so as to bear upon the cylinder-head D. The bolts E pass through the ends of these springplates F and haveI applied to their ends nuts c. By tightening the nuts e it will be observed that the lower headwill be held securely .in place, and the springs F will be l put under tension, and will thereby hold the upper head, D, securely'in place.

G H designate two rings, which form an es sential part of the mechanism for rotating the drill-piston. w

I designates the spirally-grooved bar, which is concentric with the piston and cylinder, and has at the upper end a head, I', considerably larger in diameter than the bar.

` In the cylinder A is formed a rabbet, a', of considerable depth, and therein is fitted a seat ring, J, through which the spirally-grooved lbar Iprojects, and against which the head I' of said bar bears. as shown in Fig. l.

The rings G H are provided on their adjacent faces, which arein Contact, with ratchetteeth. which are shown in face view Figs. 5 and 6, andthe inner ring, G, n'tsthe internal rabbet a' in the cylinder, and is looked to the head1' of' the spiral bar by lugs or ears b', tilting diametrically opposite notches b2 in said head, as shown in Fig. 5; hence it will be seen that ring G and spiral bar I can only turn together and cannot turn independently of' eachother.

As is b est shown in Fig. 1, the cylindric bore ofthe head-ring D' is slightly larger in diameter than the rabbet a' of' the cylinder, and the ringH its in this cylindric bore and bears against the end of the cylinder, said ring being supported in a rabbet, c, in the head D. It will therefore be seen that the springs F, 4by exerting their pressure upon the head D, clamp and hold the ring H by friction in its place between said head and the end of the cylinder. The spiral bar I is fitted to a nut, I2, which may be made of brass or other metal adaptedto work well with steel, and which is represented as screwed into the end of the piston-extension B2, it being made a fixture therewith. The ring G has ayielding support afforded by a spring, G', which is interposed between it and the ring J, a's shown vin Fig. 1. This spring G' may ,consist of a thin ring or annular piecevof' steel,

which is deflrcted at diametrically-opposite points in its circumference, which. gives it a corrugated form and enables it to bear on both therings Jand G; hence itwill be 4seen that the ring G may be turned freely in one direction, the spring G' yielding to permit its ratchetvteeth to pass the ratchet-teeth of the ring H.

From the above description it will be unl dersto .d that when the drill-piston is forced downward to make its working-stroke, the nut I2, acting upon the spiral bar I, turns said bar and the ring G relatively to the ring H, the

spring G' permitting the ring G toI yield suffll cient-ly f'or this purpose. On the contrary, however, when the piston performs its upstrokethe spiral bar and the ring G are held against turning by the ratchet-teeth of rings G and H, and consequently thel piston will be turned by the engagement of its vnut IL with the bar I. lgli", however, when the drill makes its upstroke there should be any unusual resistence opposed to the turning of the piston, the ring H, being held by friction only, will turn and thus avoid any breakage of' parts. By this conf struction I am enabled to employ the two ratchet-toothed rings, one of'which is clamped and held in its place by spring-pressure in connection with the central spiral bar and nut, which are now considered the most desirable means for rotating the piston, as by them no side wear is produced upon the cylinder or piston.

I will nowproceed to describe the valve and ports or passages whereby the admission of motive fluid to the cylinder is controlled. In the cylinder A is formed a valveschest, A', wherein is fitted a cylindric valve-casing A2. This casing rests upon the shoulder a, formed in the chest A'. and beyond it is placed a head,

A3, and beyond the head is aplug, A, whereby all are securely fixed in the chest. The valve K consists of a c'ylindric structure having heads or disks f, in the peripheries of which are notches or holes, as shown in Fig. 8, and which is adapted to close on either of the valve-seats g g'. From the seat q a port or passage, F2 leads to the lower end of the cylinder, and from the seat g' a port or passage, g'* leads tothe cylinder above the piston, and communicates with a belt for the passage of the motive fluid around the piston. The valve-casing A2 is provided around its circumference with series of holes or openings through which the motive fluid may be passed from the belt IL, which surrounds the valvechest A', and with which communicates a supply-pipe, h'. Between the ports orpassages g* g'* the cylinder is constructed with a circumferential exhaust passage or belt, i, having at the top an exhaust-pipe, 'i'.

rlhe valve and its inode of' operation are similar to that shown and described in my aforesaid application, and no special reference thereto is necessary. When the valveis in the position shown in Fig. l, the seat g' is open, and motive fluid can pass to the cylinder vabove the piston, and when the seat g is open, motive iiuid can pass through the passage g* below the piston.

are in the position shownin Fig, l the motive IIO lll

duid is admitted through the passage g*, and there is a free outlet for the exhaust below the piston through the exhaust-passage i,- but as soon as the piston in its downward movenient passes the exhaust-passage i, exhaust through said passage will be prevented.

To obviate any cushioning ofthe drill-piston in its downward movement,Ihavearranged adjacent to the exhaiist-passage t', and as shown in Figs. l, 3, et, a supplementary exhaust-valve, L, which I will now describe. This valve L is fitted to a eylindric bore, j, which extends in a horizontal direction into the side of the drill, and is closed by a plug, a", as is best shown in Fig. 4. The head of this valve is adapted to seat upon a shoulder, j', and below its head the valve is of skeleton or ribbed construction, so that when open communication will be afforded between the exhaust-cavity i and the small chest 'j2 of the valve L, through a port or aperture, i2, and through the cylindric borej to which the'valve is fitted. From the supply-belt (/i a port or passage, js, leads to the inner end of the cylindric bore j, and from the small valve-chest jz a port or passage, jt, leads upward to the port g*, which connects the valve-seat g with the lower end of the cylinder. The port or passage js is shown by dotted lines in Figs. l, 3, 4, and the port or passa-ge j* is shown clearly in Fig. 3.

Referring now to the operation of the niachine, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. l motive fluid passes through the seat g' and port or passage g'* to the cylinder, and passing upward aroundthe pistonextension B", acts upon the upper end of the piston and forces it downward. So long as the exhaust port or belt i'. remains open thc motive fluid can exhaust freely through the same below the piston; but as soon as the piston covers the port i, that source of escape is closed. When the mot-ive fluid passes to the upper side of the piston its full pressure passes through the passage or port js, and acting against the inner end of the valve L throws the latter open; hence after the piston has covered the exhaust port or belt i any vapor which may remain in the cylinder below the piston can still pass through the ports and passages y* j* into the chestji, and thence, the valve L being open, can pass freely through the port or opening i2 into the main exhaust-cavity t'. Vhen the valve K changes and steam is admitted through the seat g and port or passage g* the full pressure instantly passes through the port j* tothe chestjz, and acting on the head of the valve L closes it on the seat j and prevents escape of the live motive agent through the port or opening i2 into the exhaust-cavity i.

In order to facilitate the passage of steam to the upper end of the piston when the latter is making its downward stroke, I have formed in the piston-extension B2 two, three, or more grooves, Z, which extend lengthwise thereof, and which as soon as th ey are brought over the supply-belt g* by the movement of the piston, serve as passages for the live motive liuid upward to act on the end of the pistonextension. At the lower end of these grooves or channels Z, I have formed holes Z- leading inward to the cavity or chamber B3 in the piston which receives the spiral bar I, and through these holes the live motive fluid may pass to the cavity B3 to act upon the bottom thereof, and so cause the live motive Huid to exert its force upon the whole area of the piston.

It will be obvious that, although I have only described my improved supplementary valve as applied to the rock-drill, it may be embodied in chipping-machines, riveting-machines, hammers, and other engines wherein are employed a cylinder and a reciprocating piston which operates a tool by percussion. The ring H forms a pawl which is held by friction in the cylinder and with which the ring G engages. The ring H might be dispensed with, and the ring G be inade to engage with teeth or projections on the inner side ofthe head D; but I consider the ring H preferable.

Vhat I claimv as my invent-ion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a cylinder constructed with supply-passages for moti ve duid, and the exhaust-passage intermediate between the supply-passages, of a reciprocating piston fitted to the cylinder and serving to close the exhaust-passage by its movement over the same, a fluid-actuated main valve which is operated automatieall y, substantially as herein described, to control the supply of niotiye fluid to the cylinder above and below the piston, and a supplementary exhaust-valve and ports, whereby the supply-passage leading to the lower end of the cylinder may be placed in communication with the main exhaust when the piston is on its downstroke to permit the exhaust of vapor from the lower end of the cylinder after the main exhaust-passage has been closed by the piston, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The combination, with a cylinder constructed with supply-passages g* g and the main exhaust-passage i, and also having a cyl'indric bore, j, and passages ji'j* i2, of a piston, B, the valve-seats g g and the valve K,

land the supplementary exhaust-valve L, all

arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. In a rock-drill, the combination, with a cylinder and piston and a spiral bar, of a ring having ratchet-shaped teeth uponits face, and locked to the head of the spiral bar, so as to slide lengthwise of thebar, and a spring forming a yielding support for said ring, substantially as herein described.

4. In a rock-drill, the combination, with a cylinder and piston, of a spiral bar fitting a nut in the piston, and two rings having ratchetshaped teeth on their adjacent faces, one of said rings being supported by a spring and IOO IIO

Y lock-ed to turn with the spiral bar,and the other ring being clamped and held by friction in' the cylinder, substantially as herein described.

`5. The combination7 with a cylinder and reciprocating piston, of the upper head held in place by spring-pressure, aspirally grooved bar fitting a corresponding nut in the piston, and two rings having ratchet-shaped teeth upon their faces,one of said rings being clamped l and held in place by spring-pressure between the upper head and the end of the cylinder, and the other ring being v locked to said bar, substantially as herein described.

.6. The combination,with a cylinder, A, and

a'piston and piston-extension, B Bof the ring J, fitting a rabbet in the cylinder, the spirallygrooved bar I, iitting a nut in the piston extension, the rings G H, having ratchet-teeth upon their faces, and theforiner of which is locked to the head of said spiral bar, the spring G', supporting the ring G, and the head D, with the springs F, for exerting a pressure thereon and by which the ring H is clamped in place, substantially as herein described.

7. The combination, With acylinder and its supply-belt gk, of the piston B and pistonextension B", the spiral bar .L and `ratchettoothed rings for holding it, substantially as herein described, and the nut I, tting said spiral bar, the piston extension being vprovided with grooves and passagesl Z', whereby motive iluid will be conducted to the upper end of the cylinder and to the chamber in the piston which receives the spiral bar, substan,

tially as herein described. f A

y HENRY G. SERGEANT.

Witnesses: y l

FREDK. HAYNEs, MATTHEW PoLLooK. 

